The Start of a New Class

Some of you may have noticed that I usually post in the evening. Well, I'm posting in the morning today because a new class at the Loft begins tonight. My new class is Using Short Stories by Margaret Atwood to Improve Your Fiction Writing. Wednesday nights for the next six weeks I'll be studying Margaret Atwood's Wilderness Tips in hopes of learning a thing or two about writing fiction. I have read several tips to wannabe authors encouraging them to "read as a writer" and I understand what it means but I don't know how to do it. I have been trained to read as a crtical reader, to pay attention to theme and character development and metaphor in view of the whole piece, the results. I have begun a book or a story determined to read as a writer, to pay attention to the how of the story. But then within a few pages I get sucked into the story and am back in my familiar role of critical reader. So this class will give me a chance to practice new reading skills and learn and practice new writing skills too. I am expecting, and hoping, it will be very different than the Personal Essay class I took last fall. Stay tuned...